Can understanding genetics help stop violence?

When neuroscientist James Fallon walks through his family room, he passes a haunting painting of a man's face peering from a dark void.

Fallon's proud of the painting and rightly so. His daughter is the artist. And the work evokes the type of men the UCI professor emeritus has devoted much of his life studying – psychopathic murderers.

It also happens to be Fallon's face.

Yes, a few years ago Fallon had a PET scan and it looked exactly like those of serial killers he had studied. He ran his DNA and discovered his genetic makeup is also that of a highly aggressive person.

The ironic discovery didn't bother Fallon, a man who embraces living large, curiosity and scientific truth. What does trouble Fallon is that this nation's core beliefs about violence and how to stop school shootings fail to address serious questions raised by genetic research.

If Fallon's analyses are correct, certain assumptions and policies are wrong.

If you recognize his name or Fallon's usually cherubic facade, you may have seen him on CNN, History Channel, PBS, ABC, CBS's “Criminal Minds.” If the talk-news stations had their way – and they once did – he would have been the go-to guy after the Boston bombings.

But Fallon, who has examined the brains of more than 70 murderers, backed off on being a talking head. Media – and that includes me – want him to explain what might cause a specific suspect to commit such heinous acts. I asked for this interview after the Sandy Hook school shootings. By the time Fallon emerged from a book deadline, Boston had taken over headlines.

Does violence beget violence? Why might a young man who came of age in this country try to blow it up?

Fallon, a senior Fulbright scholar and former chair of the UCI Faculty/Academic Senate, squints as the sun hits his face in his backyard. Monarch butterfly cocoons hang nearby, creatures transforming. This adviser to the U.S. military shakes his bushy head and explains he can't answer questions about individuals he knows so little about, just as he can no longer be a part of the talking head charade.

“I don't have the information to make a conclusion,” Fallon explains, looking at me as if the silliness of digital-age speculation is self-evident. Brain synapses, genetics, early childhood experiences are all factors.

Fallon points out he may have the genetic makeup of a psychopath – but he hasn't killed anyone.

Still, Fallon is confident that he has the data to back up the assertion that this country has some seriously flawed policies on how to identify likely terrorists, just as many of us have some seriously flawed beliefs about what makes a terrorist.

Fallon predicts that in the next two decades, America will have to grapple with certain genetic realities that most of us – including Fallon – would rather avoid.

Our conversation drifts in a very politically incorrect direction. But science – not opinion – dictates its course.

To make his positions easier to grasp, Fallon points out that most people can put their minds around the idea of genetic indicators for addiction. Why not for aggression?

After the young man was arrested in the Boston explosions, President Barack Obama addressed the nation and said America must continue to welcome diverse peoples as well as discover why someone would kill and maim innocent civilians.

Both statements trouble Fallon, not for their intent but for their lack of scientific understanding.

Let's first tackle the issue of ethnic diversity.

Like it or not, genetic research in the last decade has made quantum leaps. Fallon reports that he and millions of people have the MAO-A gene, what the professor calls the warrior gene. The warrior gene is the alpha dog in a pack of more than a dozen genes associated with aggressive behavior.

Fallon and his colleagues have discovered the warrior gene is particularly dominant along the ancient Silk Road – blame the Mongols – in sub-Saharan Africa, among the Maori in New Zealand, in parts of China, Colombia … The list goes on.

But understand, the warrior gene is an indicator for aggression –
not a determiner of destiny.

While Fallon, also a former president of UCI's School of Medicine faculty
, sees a propensity toward violence among some ethnic groups, he is quick to point out that isn't what he finds among the Hans in China who carry the same gene.

Fallon explains that genetics, brain activity
and the psychology of the individual all play a role in behavior. That means culture also plays a role.

Fallon admits he isn't thrilled with the discovery that certain genes are more common in certain groups. But he's even more uncomfortable with what he says makes sense when it comes to dealing with individuals: testing for genetic markers.

Fallon stops short of saying that most stone-cold killers are hard-wired. But he comes close.

Severe emotional stress or trauma in early child development – and his point isn't about Freud but about neurons – plays a major role in creating a serial killer.

Still, he cautions, “One size doesn't fit all.”

A loving, nurturing upbringing extinguishes murderous pathology – and Fallon points to himself as a case in point.

This means that broad laws fail to address the individual and genetic makeup. Fallon predicts, “The law and neuroscience will be at odds for the next 20 years.”

As a libertarian, Fallon tells me he hates the idea of governmental genetic testing. But such tests make scientific sense.

If genetic testing were required now, Fallon, a published author on topics ranging from brain imaging to creativity, would be on the priority list.

At a barbecue several years ago, Fallon's mother suggested that her son look into his own family, particularly his father's side.

Fallon discovered that an ancestor, Thomas Cornell, was hanged in 1673 for killing his mother. A distant cousin was Lizzie Borden, the woman who in 1892 was famously accused of chopping up her parents with an ax. Several other recent ancestors on his father's side were murderers. His uncles were fighters.

While examining his and family members' brain scans and genes, Fallon discovered he fit the profile of the murderers he'd examined.

It was then that he and his brothers started reviewing their own lives filled with adventure, a pattern common with the warrior gene.

We continue the conversation in Fallon's kitchen. The dark portrait looks over Fallon's shoulder as he jokes about a wild and crazy trip.

I'm glad that Fallon's mom was a nurturer.

David Whiting's column appears four days a week. dwhiting@ocregister.com